Dallas Safari Club Convention Summary

[wesheltonj]

. . . San Antonio is building up international terminal space right now
That will be done in 3-4 years . . .

Only when someone pointed out that there new terminal could not handle a B777 they made a change. But it really does not matter, San Antonio cannot support European traffic. Austin on the other-hand just added a second daily BA flight to Heathrow, along with Lufthansa to Frankfurt and KLM to Amsterdam. Austin is building a new International space, with more luggage carousels. Cargo and Business Class seats make those flight profitable. I've been told that BA could run those flight empty and still make money with cargo alone.

 

[pilar]

Only when someone pointed out that there new terminal could not handle a B777 they made a change. But it really does not matter, San Antonio cannot support European traffic. Austin on the other-hand just added a second daily BA flight to Heathrow, along with Lufthansa to Frankfurt and KLM to Amsterdam. Austin is building a new International space, with more luggage carousels. Cargo and Business Class seats make those flight profitable. I've been told that BA could run those flight empty and still make money with cargo alone.

Mas O Minos
You are correct, but Austin and San Antonio are still treated as stepchildren by the major carriers and federal government
Maybe that will change when they start deporting criminal immigrants straight from San Antonio, instead of using lobbyists backed centralized hubs?

 

[BTB Joe]

I appreciate the posts about the outfitters and the reaction to the show. I would like to see more posts about customers actually at the show. Did you enjoy it? What was your favorite? What was wrong? (Besides the weather) how was the booth layout, was it easy to navigate, etc. Try to keep it show focused, like parking, or flight availability, not (just) how bad Atlanta is. Think constructive criticism. That's something to take to a DSC board meeting. (Disclaimer - I am a board member but just a local chapter) thanks!!

I attended DSC for the first time this year. I have a few hunt quotes coming but didn’t book yet. All I purchased was a Leupold VX6 scope at a good price at EuroOptics and a couple DSC shirts.
We were able to book round trip airfare from Dulles (drove 2 hrs to get there) on Frontier for under $100. Hard to beat that. Took Uber everywhere we went and they were available despite the weather. The first morning we hitched a ride to the convention with an exhibitor who parked easily right adjacent to Lobby B. I can’t say whether parking was that easy/available for all attendees.
Our hotel was around $120 base rate but probably around $150 with taxes and fees. I thought that was very reasonable for a downtown area. Restaurants were typical for metro areas. Lots of expensive options but a fair number of standard go-to’s as well (Hard Rock, Hooters, etc.).
The weather complicated things (flight delays turned a two night stay into four nights) but that’s not on DSC. I think one guy with a plow on an F150 could have cleaned up downtown in a day (it really wasn’t much snow) but it was what it was. In any case, we spent two days at the show (Thursday and Friday) and enjoyed it.
The layout was fine and the phone app was helpful. Registration was easy (we preregistered so just needed to have a badge printed).
I found the convention to be very similar to SCI that I attended in Nashville in many respects but that is based on just walking the floor. I didn’t attend seminars, auctions, or dinners… I couldn’t gauge how the area around the convention center was due to weather. Nashville was very nice but I understand it is moving from there.
I will probably continue to visit SCI and DSC occasionally particularly when I’m contemplating DG hunts. Otherwise, I get my fix annually at GAOS in Harrisburg. It’s an easy drive for me.

 

[BigTexHunting]

I made the trek to Atlanta this year, and what a dissapointment! The majority of the foot traffic were vendors, and then that left many booths under staffed or empty. Not sure how the DSC board allowed themselve to be hood winked into moving the show to Atlanta, but this will be my last DSC show until it is back in Texas. Shoot... Jerry World would have been better than this experience.

 

[lhook7]

This is so disappointing. I'm a lifetime DSC member but I am joining SCI and will attend the SCI convention for the first time next year.

 

[Philip Glass]

I noticed just in the past couple of weeks that the new season of Tracks Across Africa is now called "SCI's Track Across Africa" when it was "DSC's Tracks Across Africa" for many years. Fulson is now wearing a new logo'd shirt with a SCI Tracks AA logo!

And he was in Dallas instead of Atlanta! I was surprised.

 

[Philip Glass]

DSC membership just got an email update from the new CEO of DSC. He expressed receiving a lot of feedback and what they are doing with that feedback. There will be a plan announced for next steps within a few weeks at most. He acknowledged that Atlanta was not a good outcome and was concerning to many sponsors, vendors, members, etc. He is also hearing a big need for better communication from DSC and he is pledging to address that with changes. This email was the first step to address that. I was glad to get the email and I'm very interested to see where it goes.

I'm a life member but did not get the email. Thanks for the info

 

[lhook7]

I'm a life member but did not get the email. Thanks for the info

Neither did I, which only adds to my frustration with them.